Sunderland Beat Arsenal: 6 Things We Learned About Gunners in 2-0 FA Cup Defeat

Arsenal saw their 2011-12 season effectively come to a crashing and disappointing end at the Stadium of Light as they were knocked out of the FA Cup by Sunderland, by two goals to nil.

The game taught us several things about the Gunners, but little of it will make pleasant reading for manager Arsene Wenger. Here we take a look at six key factors which Arsenal need to take note of over the remainder of the season.

During the game itself, Arsenal started brightly enough but their enterprising opening was interrupted by the injury to Francis Coquelin.

Sunderland worked their way back into the game and an even first half ended with the home team a goal up, courtesy of Keiran Richardson's deflected effort.

Arsenal were pretty woeful in the second half, despite plenty of possession, and conceded a second goal on the counter attack, which ended with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain putting through his own net.

Onto the problems of Arsenal then...

Defence, Midfield, Attack: Three Very Different Sections of Arsenal's Team

Back in the day of the Invincibles, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal team were a seamless cohesion of players who understood each others' every move and thought; there was a fluid and fast-paced structure to how the team attacked and a solidity and resilience to how they defended.

The modern day Arsenal side are very, very different.

Within each area of the pitch—defence, midfield, attack—it is almost like looking at three different teams.

The Gunners defence, previously associated with being miserly and uncompromising, now look merely accommodating and easily rattled.

In midfield, flashes of real technical ability are extremely evident, as is creativity from deep areas and a willingness to support in attack—sometimes.

Against Sunderland, most of this was in scant evidence, aside from a 20 minute or so spell in the first half when Arsenal dominated possession, without really penetrating the Black Cats' defence.

And then there is the front line, where Arsenal can excel and frustrate within a few minutes.

The brilliance and ability of Robin van Persie is replaced on occasion with annoyance that those around him are not on par with him in terms of thought and execution, while Gervinho and Theo Walcott too often flatter to deceive.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain shows huge promise, but clearly still needs more experience as well.

Bad games will happen from time to time, and he needs guidance from those around him to bounce back a better player.

But it is the overall dynamic of the team which will most concern Wenger.

There is little attempt at inter-play between the forwards and attacking midfielders when Ramsey is not playing, or playing well, and it is much the same between attacking full-backs and wide attackers.

Continual breaking up of these partnerships because of injuries does not help, but at the moment Arsenal seem to have no game plan other than to keep passing, keep passing, keep passing...and just hope that something crops up.

Robin Van Persie Cannot Wave His Magic Wand by Himself, Every Time

After 28 goals this season, it almost seems like Robin van Persie will score effortlessly every time he takes to the pitch.

But against Sunderland in the FA Cup it was certainly proven that van Persie cannot do it all by himself, and at present his team mates are simply not up to the task of helping him.

Arsenal fashioned a single clear opening against Sunderland: a first half effort by Gervinho which was beaten away for a corner by Simon Mignolet.

Despite being behind for the whole of the second half, the Gunners created absolutely nothing in open play, and even van Persie's set pieces didn't cause too much commotion for the Belgian goalkeeper.

Arsenal only have one other player—Theo Walcott—who has even reached half a dozen goals this season, and until other players start contributing in a big way to the score sheet, or even to creating good chances for van Persie, they will continue to struggle to turn their season back around.

A Return to the Brittle, Lightweight Arsenal of Old?

In the FA Cup match between Sunderland and Arsenal, the home side ran out 2-0 winners in terms of goals—but if the match was won by heart, fight and pure will to win, the Black Cats would have registered in the double figures while Arsenal still would have been without marking the score sheet.

Every single area of the pitch had a common theme during the cup tie: wherever an Arsenal player had the ball, at least one, but sometimes two or even three Sunderland players closed him down, put him under pressure and tried to win the ball back.

Even early on in the first half it was apparent that the Gunners didn't like this treatment, with Johan Djourou and Thomas Vermaelen in particular struggling to come to terms with it.

Years ago, for all their technical excellence, Arsenal were seen as a bit of a soft touch when the likes of Bolton came to town.

Now, Sunderland have pointed the way forward for other teams against them again by harrying Arsenal players off the ball at every opportunity.

The amount of balls that the home team won in the middle of the park was quite incredible. Add to that the quick turnover of possession and good running off the ball by the front men and Sunderland were a real menace all game long—even when Arsenal had the ball.

Theo Walcott Can Only Dream of Playing Centre Forward

Relegated to a substitute's role after several below-par performances and the return from international duty of Gervinho, Theo Walcott could only look on during the first half as his side went in at the break a goal down.

10 minutes into the second half, however, Walcott was called upon to lead the line for his team, playing in the centre forward role which he obviously craves and clearly believes he can do.

On this evidence, he is clearly wrong.

To be fair, he received next to no good service—but clever passes can only be made if the runs are right, and Walcott made none of these.

He was too static in the centre and barely once looked to use his pace to stretch the Sunderland defence down the channels.

Walcott will be fearing for his Arsenal and England places at the moment with the emergence of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, and if this is the kind of performance he puts in when he gets the chance, he has every reason to be.

Defensive Woes Need Sorting Before Arsenal Can Hope to Challenge for Trophies

Andre Santos, Carl Jenkinson and Keiran Gibbs all remain sidelined for Arsenal through injury, as they have been for much of the season, while against Sunderland they also lost makeshift full-back Francis Coquelin to a hamstring strain.

Per Mertesacker limped out of the Premier League version of this fixture a week ago and will miss the rest of the season, while Laurent Koscielny also missed this game with a minor knock.

To top it all off, reserve defender Sebastian Squillaci—only on for Coquelin after a eight minutes of this game—was subbed himself early in the second period, also with injury.

It is this incessant but enforced chopping and changing of the back-line which has had a big effect on Arsenal's defence this season, but at the same time, the players who have been fit have been, both on a collective and individual basis, nothing short of dreadful, far too much of the time.

Thomas Vermaelen was again shifted to left back after Coquelin's injury and picked up a yellow card from that position, while Bacary Sagna and Johan Djourou also both got their names taken.

The latter two were arguably lucky not to get second cards after separate misdemeanours later on in the game.

Lukasz Fabianski, though not particularly at fault for either goal, has barely played this season and can hardly instil confidence or organisation in his defenders when he never plays with them, while Djourou appears to have regressed to the form of his formative years with the Gunners, missing headers and tackles and making the most basic of clearances look like a lesson entitled How to Put Yourself Under Pressure in Three Easy Steps.

Meanwhile, the less said about Sebastian Squillaci's approach to defending the better.

Arsene Wenger has plenty of work to do on the training ground with his defenders.

Three Premier League Games Which Could Ruin Arsene Wenger and Arsenal

Following their FA Cup exit at the hands of Sunderland, Arsene Wenger's Arsenal team are now destined to end a seventh successive season without winning a single trophy.

For Gunners fans, this will be a hard pill to swallow given the imploding nature of last season after League Cup final defeat, and the similarities between last season and this are too obvious to ignore.

After that loss to Birmingham at Wembley, Arsenal also exited the Champions League and FA Cup in quick succession, while also losing major ground in the Premier League title race.

For this year, league glory is already well out the window with a 17 point deficit on Manchester City, and the League Cup challenge ended at the quarter final stage after defeat to the league leaders.

Going into this week, trophy hopes rested squarely on either the Champions League or the FA Cup—and the 2-0 loss at the Stadium of Light has put paid to the latter, while the former is 99 percent over following a 4-0 drubbing in the second round, first leg against AC Milan.

Arsenal basically have one thing only left to play for this season: fourth place, and with it Champions League qualification again for next term.

At present the Gunners hold that fourth spot ahead of Chelsea by virtue of goals scored, but with Newcastle United just one point further back and Liverpool in seventh also chasing the same berth, four points behind Arsenal, it is far from certain that Wenger's team will manage to claim it, especially if they cannot turn around their form quickly and suffer a similar dip in fortunes to this time last year.

The next three Premier League games will be absolutely crucial to Arsenal, no two ways about it.

Win them, and they will be really in the driving seat for that fourth spot.

Lose one or two and the pressure will be on in a massive way as to whether Wenger can even guide his team to the top four this season.

Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Newcastle United.

Three games which could decide Arsenal's season—this one, and the next.